James Cameron

James Cameron is one of the most successful and flat-out notorious filmmakers in Hollywood’s storied history. His resume boasts a number of contemporary classics, including 1984’s The Terminator, 1986’s Aliens, 1997’s Titanic, and 2009's epic 3D record-breaker, Avatar. His cutting-edge work in the realm of special effects has influenced countless filmmakers and has earned him a wealth of technical awards, while his movies have launched the careers of such familiar faces as Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bill Paxton and Edward Furlong. In short, James Cameron really is the king of the world.

Appeal

With his gangly stature and nondescript looks, James Cameron certainly has the superficial attributes of someone who’s never had much luck with the fairer sex. Appearances are deceiving, however, as James Cameron has established himself as a lady-killer of the highest order. After divorcing first wife Sharon Williams in 1984, James Cameron married his Terminator writing partner Gale Anne Hurd just a year later -- though that coupling fizzled out in 1989. That same year, James Cameron married an up-and-coming director named Kathryn Bigelow (director of The Hurt Locker) and their relationship lasted until 1991. In 1997, James Cameron married Terminator star Linda Hamilton and had a child with her before the union collapsed just two short years later. James Cameron is currently on wife No. 5, Suzy Amis, who he met on the set of Titanic and married in 2000.

Success

James Cameron’s infamously larger-than-life ego is generally well deserved, as the filmmaker has been responsible for introducing audiences to several of contemporary cinema’s most indelible characters. It’s not a stretch to label his story a rags-to-riches tale, as he managed to go from driving trucks to directing big-budget movies in the span of just a few years.

The facts speak for themselves: James Cameron directed the two highest-grossing films of all time, Avatar and Titanic. That's right: He set a record with Titanic, and then he broke it.

He's famous for allowing his passions to completely consume his life (his first four wives might have some choice words to share about that), but his latest feat really is astonishing. In March of 2012, he did a solo mission to the bottom of the Mariana Trench, seven miles below the surface of the ocean. In a small submersible, he became the first man in 52 years to visit the deepest part of any ocean.

James Cameron Biography

James Francis Cameron was born on August 16, 1954, in Kapuskasing, Ontario. Though he spent the first few years of his life residing in Niagara Falls, Cameron’s family eventually settled in Los Angeles -- where the precocious youngster quickly cultivated a ravenous interest in all things film. It wasn’t until he saw Stanley Kubrick’s seminal 1968 science-fiction tale 2001: A Space Odyssey that Cameron first considered making his own movies, and he spent the next several years shooting his own short films using his father’s Super-8 camera.

After graduating high school, James Cameron’s lifelong interest in the sciences led him to study physics at California State University’s Fullerton campus -- though he dropped out after about a year to pursue various employment opportunities and also to spend time with his new wife (a waitress named Sharon Williams). He spent a few years floundering before he finally decided to try his hand at filmmaking. To that end, James Cameron collaborated with a couple of friends on a 10-minute science-fiction short entitled Xenogenesis, which provided the fledgling director with precisely the foot in the door he had been looking for.

james cameron makes his directorial debut

James Cameron’s first real job within the movie business was as a miniature model maker at Roger Corman Studios, where he learned the ins and outs of low-budget film-making and eventually worked his way up the ranks in Hollywood’s special effects industry (with one of his most lucrative gigs being a pivotal role behind the scenes on John Carpenter’s cult hit Escape from New York). In 1981, James Cameron received his big break after he was hired to direct the low-budget horror sequel Piranha II: The Spawning -- which, although a critical and financial bomb, paved the way for his breakthrough effort just three years later.

james cameron directs the terminator

The Terminator, released on October 26, 1984, transformed James Cameron into one of Hollywood’s hottest up-and-coming filmmakers virtually overnight, and also paved the way for Arnold Schwarzenegger to become the decade’s most ubiquitous action star. The film’s wildly successful box-office run afforded Cameron his pick of projects. After penning the first draft to 1985’s Rambo: First Blood Part II, the auteur settled on a follow-up to 1979’s Alien as his third cinematic endeavor.

james cameron directs aliens

Released in 1986, Alien -- starring Sigourney Weaver, Bill Paxton and Lance Henriksen -- instantly joined an extremely elite club of sequels that managed to equal (or, in this case, top) their well-received predecessors. The movie went on to earn seven Oscar nominations and a gross of over $100 million internationally, which allowed Cameron to indulge in his passion for all things aquatic on his next picture (1989’s The Abyss).

james cameron directs terminator 2: judgment day

After The Abyss opened to middling box-office returns and a far-from-enthusiastic critical response, James Cameron decided to return to the landscape of his most enthusiastically-received endeavor with a sequel to 1984’s The Terminator. 1991’s Terminator 2: Judgment Day ultimately managed to surpass all of the popular filmmaker’s prior works in terms of both critical popularity and financial success, as the movie’s groundbreaking sensibilities led to it breaking a series of records and eventually winning four Academy Awards (including Best Visual Effects and Best Sound).

James Cameron subsequently used his unstoppable clout to mount his most ambitious and expensive endeavor up to that point, as 1994’s True Lies -- which paired the director with Arnold Schwarzenegger for the third time -- details the exploits of a first-class spy as he attempts to evade terrorists and also keep his wife (Jamie Lee Curtis) and daughter (Eliza Dushku) blissfully unaware of the true nature of his perilous day job. The film was a global success that would eventually come to be dwarfed by Cameron’s seventh big-screen effort, 1997’s Titanic.

james cameron directs titanic

In 1996, James Cameron began shooting an epic romance set against the backdrop of the RMS Titanic’s legendary sinking. Armed with an all-star cast that includes Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet and Bill Paxton, James Cameron managed to survive what eventually became the most arduous and downright infamous shoots of his career after he delivered a film that shattered all preconceived notions of what makes a blockbuster. The movie, which managed to amass a worldwide box office tally of $1.8 billion and earn a whopping 11 Oscars, remains the most successful feature film in cinematic history, and the entire world waited with baited breath to see just how James Cameron would follow up such an endeavor.

Rather than immediately return to the world of features, however, James Cameron decided to indulge his lifelong passion for the earth’s underwater realms. To that end, Cameron spent the next several years helming a series of documentaries detailing various aspects of the world beneath our feet -- including 2002’s Expedition: Bismarck and 2003’s Ghosts of the Abyss. It was during that period that Cameron also dipped his toes into television’s notoriously fickle waters, as he created a science-fiction vehicle for Jessica Alba entitled Dark Angel (which ran for two seasons on Fox).

james cameron directs avatar

Of course, James Cameron’s hordes of fans had been waiting years for the visionary filmmaker to step back into the world of fictional features. In 2005, Cameron announced that he was finally ready to step back into the ring with a typically ambitious science fiction endeavor entitled Avatar. When it was released in 3D in 2009, Avatar featured the most cutting-edge special effects ever seen on film. The movie broke the record (set, naturally, by Cameron himself) for the highest-grossing film in history, and was a critical sensation.

James Cameron's Deep Sea Dive

In March 2012, James Cameron manned a one-person submersible called the Deepsea Challenger and made a solo dive to the bottom of the Mariana Trench. The mission was a joint venture with Rolex and National Geographic, and the submersible took samples and photos. Cameron piloted the vessel around the bottom of the Mariana for around three hours before returning. In case you didn't already get the message, James Cameron is The Man.